BEIJING — China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 23 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on July 15.

The two-year average growth stood at 4.4 percent, 0.2 percentage points faster than that in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, retail sales went up 13.9 percent year-on-year, bringing the average growth for the past two years to 4.6 percent.

Retail sales in June were 12.1 percent higher from a year earlier, or 10 percent higher than June 2019.

The growth reversed from declines seen in H1 2020, when consumer spending was disrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic.

The catering sector, one of the worst affected by the epidemic, saw its combined revenue jump 48.6 percent from a year ago in H1. The revenue recovered to almost the same level in H1, 2019.

Online retail sales jumped 23.2 percent year-on-year in H1, bringing the two-year average growth to 15 percent, faster than the pace seen in Q1.

China's gross domestic product expanded 12.7 percent year-on-year in H1 as the recovery continued to firm, data showed.